The routine exercise tested how first responders would perform during a real-life crisis. The streetcar was derailed and a car was placed right in its path to simulate a crash. More than a dozen actors on the streetcar pretended to be hurt. Firefighters used the jaws of life to rip off the roof of the car and rescue a manikin inside.

H Street NE was shut down for several hours during the drill.

DDOT spokesperson Cherie Gibson says drivers need to become comfortable with having streetcars on the road because. “The vehicles are quiet; they run smoothly. So you don’t necessarily know that you’re next to them. They’re actually quieter than a bus,” she says.”So we definitely want to use this time to get people aware that these vehicles are on the corridor.”

Streetcar operators are still in training but Gibson says the H Street-Benning Road line will be open to the public by the end of the year.